Lynn Lamy

Lynn Lamy

The heart of Woodcrest Christian School is found in its mission, and commitment to Christ-centered academics. Where did this idea come from, and what does it mean? We asked Lynn Lamy, the first administrator within the Woodcrest system, at the time existing as Riverside Christian Day School, to share his thoughts and experiences in the early days of WCSS.

Prior to coming onboard at WCSS, Lamy worked for the police department. His background is foundationally theological, as he graduated from Los Angeles Baptist College (now Master’s University) and attended Dallas Theological Seminary. He came to be familiar with Woodcrest because his children were enrolled in the day school. Lamy says he was drawn to fundamental philosophies that “undergirded the value of what WCSS was doing.” Planning to leave the force, he began helping out at the school as needed in his free time, until he was asked to stay on in a more permanent position. Lamy agreed to do it for a year until they found someone else, but it “turns out that they quit looking.” 

Lamy was responsible for much of the spiritual and physical development of the WCSS upper campus. Upon purchasing the land which now serves as the WCMS and WCHS campus, Lamy drew up plans to level out the steep incline and terrace fields for athletics and foundations to be built. “The day before we opened for the first class…my wife Shirley and I went through vacuuming the floors, the boys dusted the desks and did the finishing touches. The parking lot was the same size as it is now, but there were only four cars in it,” states Lamy. The construction continued on while students were in session, and they were in good spirits about the newness of it all though amenities were few. Lamy commented, “it was a pioneer adventure for them, an inspiration.” 

Lynn Lamy attributes everything to Christ, and with that heart posture stayed faithful and passionate about centering the school around Christ. “When I first became acquainted with the school, they had a sign out front that said non-denominational.” Motivated to make a statement to the public and tell the world what WCSS did stand for, Lamy got a board and a chisel and cut out letters that said ‘Christ-centered academics.’ His remark to why he did this was the need to “tell them what we ARE, not tell them what we are NOT.” Stemming from this initial action, Lamy was committed to paving the way for future generations and raising up Christian leaders and students in the Woodcrest system. He comments, “without the scriptures, it would just be another private school.” 

So what is the real meaning of this phrase, Christ-centered academics? Lamy explains the meaning, “Christ created everything, the universe, everything we have. So an education based on reality has to have a connection to the creator.” In faith, we as an institution seek to prepare students for a future of academic success from a Biblical perspective out of Colossians 2:6-10. This is encompassed in “the idea of Christ-centered academics, which carries a trilogy of three basic principles. Christ-centered people using Christ-centered methods to achieve a Christ-centered goal,” Lamy says. The concept is taking each subject matter that we teach and relating it to the creator, whether that be history, music, literature, math, science, etc. Ultimately understanding, teaching, and learning these things with a divine purpose and for God’s glory is what it’s all about. Staff members, teachers, and administrators hold the responsibility to know and live out the philosophy of growing internally within the process, not in static but in motion towards Christ.